When I See You
by voidxgear
Summary: Three times Hal made a surprise visit to Barry, one time he didn't, and how it changes them.
1. Chapter 1

"Thanks for the help," Barry said as he and Hal watched the armored police vehicle drive off with Captain Cold. Barry knew he could have taken Snart on his own, but having a Green Lantern show up out of nowhere was pretty nice.

It took some weight off, especially since he and Hal worked so well together. It never mattered how long Hal would be gone, doing heaven-knows-what in space. Whenever he returned, the two of them still fell in sync during a battle. Some heroes had trouble with Hal's impulsive tendencies and recklessness, but Barry knew what to say to bring him back. Well, usually. No one could _truly_ tame Hal Jordan.

"That was a cakewalk," Hal said proudly, arms crossed.

"You almost lost your ring," Barry said.

"'Almost' being the keyword, Flash. I didn't lose it. And what about you? You were a popsicle when I showed up!"

Barry laughed. "I think you're exaggerating a little bit. So what brings you to Central City? I thought you were still working off-world with the corps."

Hal made a face that almost looked like a pout. "I am. I got some intel on some stuff going on here on Earth, then I heard about the Captain Cold attack on the news and decided to say hi."

That sentence made Barry pause. When did Hal ever watch the news? Barry pushed the thought off. "Need a hand with anything? My shift is over and I don't have any league duties tonight."

"What? You got a free evening for once and you wanna throw yourself into another mess?" Hal shook his head and clicked his tongue as he threw an arm around Barry's shoulders, leading him into a nearby empty alley. "You work too much, Bar."

Hal looked around and upward, making sure there were no peering eyes before he let his Green Lantern uniform vanish. In its place, the pilot wore jeans, an old white t-shirt, and his signature pilot jacket. Barry followed his example, and within seconds was dressed in a red sweater vest with a white shirt and black slacks. They looked like night and day.

"What are you doing, Hal?"

"Leading you some place where you don't have to think about work so much," Hal said vaguely. His arm lingered on Barry's shoulders as they kept walking through the alley.

Barry had a feeling he knew where this was going. "You know I can't get drunk."

"No, but you got me, and I'm a distraction."

Barry pouted. "You got that right."

Just how well did Hal know this city anyway? Barry knew every inch of it as well as he knew his own hands because he lived here and ran through it everyday. Hal didn't live here. He'd been here before, on multiple occasions, but not usually long enough to memorize much of it. However, here he was, leading Barry straight to a downtown bar. Barry supposed that for Hal, that was somehow fitting.

"You could at least try to look happy about it," Hal teased, giving Barry a grin.

"I thought you had some mission here?"

"Eh, it can wait."

Barry sighed, still under Hal's arm. "If you say so."

It was a Saturday night, so the bar was packed and noisy. Hal and Barry managed to snag a table in a corner. While Barry was sitting with pretty decent posture, Hal was leaned back in his seat, stretching his legs pretty far underneath the table. The lantern must have decided he didn't want to get too drunk tonight, because he decided that beer was his drink of choice. Barry followed suit.

"What's new, Bar? Any juicy forensic stuff? League stuff I've missed? Take Iris on any hot dates recently?"

Barry frowned, looking down into his glass. "Iris…hasn't returned my calls lately."

Hal's grin evaporated as he gave Barry a concerned look. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Listen, tell me more about this mission of yours. Must be pretty big if they're sending you instead of Simon and Jessica."

Hal made that face again, that almost-pout, as he stared past Barry. "Just recon. Could be something, could be nothing."

Barry rose an eyebrow. "Just recon?"

"Yeah. You got enough on your mind, I won't bore you with the details."

Barry realized what was happening. They were both deflecting. Barry was deflecting because he didn't want to talk about Iris since it was still pretty fresh, but what about Hal? Why was Hal deflecting? It was clear he was lying about whatever this so-called "mission" was, but why? It wasn't like him to lie to Barry. If anything, he was usually most honest with Barry. Something else was going on with him and Barry wished he knew what it was. He could help Hal if he needed it.

Even if he had to talk about Iris.

He picked up his glass, taking a healthy sip of his beer, wishing it really could get him drunk. He firmly set his glass on the table again, looking right at his best friend. "Hal, I find it really odd that you would be sent for a recon mission when there are two lanterns on this planet already."

Thank goodness everyone else in the bar seemed to be too wrapped up in themselves to pay attention to them.

Hal blinked at Barry, clearly caught off-guard, and shifted a bit in his chair. "Alright. Fine. I came for something else."

"For what?" Barry asked, softening his tone.

Hal hesitated. "Some... _one_ else. But…let's just say that my timing sucks. As usual."

Barry frowned as he watched Hal down most of his beer. Was this about Carol? Hal had other girlfriends here and there, but things like this were almost always about Carol, so he couldn't imagine it was anything else. In any case, Barry didn't need to pry for every detail. It wasn't necessary.

"I know the feeling," he said with a sympathetic smile. He held up his glass. "Well, in any case, it's good to see you. It's been awhile."

Hal's expression warmed as he, too, held up his glass and clinked it against Barry's. "You too, Bar. Glad I could catch you."

Barry set his glass down, giving Hal a slight grin. "I gotta ask...did you _really_ hear about Captain Cold on the news?"

Barry was expecting Hal to deflect again, but he didn't. Instead, the lantern laughed. Where a few seconds ago his expression had been hardened and saddened, it was now light. There was still some of the heaviness there, but at least a bit of it had vanished for the moment. There was something that was actually pretty nice about hearing Hal Jordan genuinely laugh. Not one of those cocky laughs during battle, but an actual laugh because he knew he could never lie to Barry Allen no matter how hard he tried.

"I asked my ring to give me a breaking news feed from some major cities. Well, except Gotham. Bats is on his own."

Was that really so hard to admit? It was so simple. "You _do_ care," Barry teased.

Hal scoffed. "Don't push your luck."

"Says the biggest luck-pusher of all time."

Hal opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. His speechlessness caused Barry to burst out in laughter.

"Now there's something we don't see everyday," Barry said. He managed to stop laughing enough to reach for his beer again, taking a big sip.

Hal had finally stopped staring off into space, his eyes instead now fixed on the blond in front of him. Sometimes, he noted, Barry could look like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders but when he smiled just right, he looked a lot lighter. The trouble was he didn't smile that way often. Hal felt silly for staring, but it was such a rare sight to see Barry that way, even if it was just a couple of seconds, and even if the reason he was laughing was at his expense.

But this was why he was here, wasn't it?

"Ha, yeah...guess so," he said idly.

It was habitual for Barry to drown himself in his work. Hal might teasingly scold him for it from time to time, but it was just how Barry operated. He could hardly help himself, it just always felt like there was something to be done. If he wasn't analyzing materials from a crime scene he was chasing one of the rogues through the streets. If he wasn't doing that, he was on some crazy mission with the Justice League. When would he have time for anything else when he was constantly being pulled in several directions?

He knew Hal didn't have it easy, but the lantern's focus was often more narrow because of the nature of being a Green Lantern and Barry sometimes envied that just a little bit.

Only a little though, because he didn't know what he'd do with himself if he wasn't trying to figure out how he still managed to be late all the time even though he's the fastest man alive.

So even though he'd just gotten home from working his day job, it seemed only natural that he suit up and patrol Central City for the evening. Grind, grind, grind just as always.

Before he changed into his Flash uniform though, he heard a knock at the door and hid his Flash ring. He hadn't been expecting anyone and had no idea who it could be. Iris? No, that….wasn't likely at all.

When he opened the door, it was Hal. He was carrying a plastic bag.

Barry blinked. "Hal? What are you doing here?"

Hal's face was stern. "Are you working today?"

"No, I actually just got home, but I—"

Hal pressed his hand against Barry's chest, pushing him back inside. "Good. We're having a movie night."

Barry didn't fight off Hal pushing him, but made a face at him nonetheless. "Hal, I still have to do my _other_ job."

"City's fine. I already looked around."

"Did you check—"

"I checked everything. Come on." Having successfully gotten them both inside the house, Hal shut the front door behind him.

Barry wanted to be mad, but it had been a while since he'd seen Hal. Hal was nice to have around, but why did he have to make everything so difficult? "You could have called."

"And let you find a way to worm out of movie night? No thanks. Okay, listen, I got four movies. I'll be nice and let you pick the first one, but we're definitely watching _Super Space Adventures 4_ after that. It's classic. You've seen that, right? I had one of those plastic laser sword things as a kid. Carried it in my bag and everything, until my mom got rid of it. I was so mad. Do you know how much those things would be worth now?"

Hal really seemed to be excited about this, and his rambling was oddly endearing. Maybe taking a night off wouldn't be so bad after all. Hal did say he looked around the city for trouble, right? He wouldn't lie about that. Plus, it was pretty rare these days for them to hang out, and often when they did, trouble seemed to show up, except for that time over a month ago when Hal dragged him to the bar. And that was only because Hal had showed up to help him get rid of trouble.

"Well, I have some bags of microwave popcorn….," Barry conceded.

Hal's face lit up. "Perfect! Get that going and I'll put the movie in. I changed my mind, we're watching _Super Space Adventures 4_ first, but I promise you can pick after that."

Barry shook his head, leaving for the kitchen to get the popcorn started as Hal took control of his TV. There were so many questions Barry had, but maybe they weren't worth answering. Hal was usually only on Earth these days for important lantern business and pretty much never had time off. Or maybe this was one of those rare times when he did? Or maybe Hal had come here for some important business and decided to hang out with Barry before leaving later? That actually sounded more likely and would also explain why Hal showed up out of nowhere.

Maybe Barry should let himself enjoy the evening off.

Within minutes, the pair were sitting on the couch, sharing a massive bowl of popcorn as the movie started. While Barry wasn't particularly passionate one way or another about these types of movies, Hal looked like he was having the time of his life.

About halfway through the movie, Barry found himself pulling his phone out from his pocket. Not for any particular reason, just to check on things. He was so used to be interrupted when he was trying to relax that he was almost shocked that either the station or the league hadn't called him yet. He opened a news app on his phone to see if anything was breaking when Hal suddenly snatched it from his hand.

"Hal! What are you doing?"

"What are _you_ doing? I told you before, you work too much. Relax and watch the movie."

"I just wanted to check some headlines…"

"I have scanners placed around the city. If something happens, you'll know when I do," Hal said sternly. He paused, but when a thought occurred to him, he looked at Barry curiously. "What, are you expecting a call from Iris or something?"

Barry's expression fell considerably. He started to speak and stopped, looking away. It took him a second to figure out how he wanted to answer. "I, ah….no, I'm not. Let's just say I don't expect any calls from her anymore."

Hal's face fell as well, as though it pained him. "I'm...sorry to hear it."

Barry shook his head. "It's my own fault. I know I never told you what happened, but…."

Oh, no. They weren't doing that. Hal waved his hand dismissively. What good would it be for Barry to have him talk about it again? If he needed to get it off his chest it was one thing, but his tone suggested that right now he wasn't in that kind of mood and had felt guilty for leaving Hal in the dark. But Hal wasn't going to force Barry to talk about something that was still hurting him if he didn't want to.

"Don't worry about it. I get it. Things happen."

"Yeah." Barry paused, hesitating. "Have you talked to Carol lately?"

Hal shifted uncomfortably in his seat, redirecting his attention to the movie. "Tried. The conversation ended with her throwing me out of her house."

Barry looked over at him. "What did you do?"

"Something stupid," Hal said, proceeding to take a handful of popcorn.

Barry didn't say anything, which made Hal look over at him and give him an exasperated expression. "Bar, you're supposed to say that I didn't do anything stupid."

Barry's expression deadpanned. "I'm sorry to hear things didn't work out with Carol." Again. Hal and Carol seemed to have such chemistry but could never get it quite right for one reason or another. Sometimes it was themselves, sometimes it was outside forces. Barry couldn't quite tell which of that was the case this time, or maybe it was both. Hal was off-world a lot, especially since Earth wasn't in his sector anymore. As far as Barry knew, he didn't even have a sector anymore. Maybe that was part of it too. Then there was the fact that Hal was terrified of commitment...

But it wasn't his place to speculate. Hal hadn't speculated about Iris. It was only fair. Why was Barry even so curious?

Hal forced a shrug, keeping his attention on the movie. "It's for the best. I never know when I'm going to be on Earth, but I try to make the best of the time I'm here."

Huh, Barry thought.

"Everything okay with the corps?" Okay, so, Barry was more interested in talking to Hal than he was in watching the movie.

Hal nodded, not seeming to mind. "A few shake-ups, but good. You'll never guess who we ran into recently. Zod."

Barry's eyes widened. "What? Does Clark know?"

"Yeah, we talked. After I got my ass kicked by Zod, that is. He disappeared somewhere though, and we can't find him, but as far as I'm concerned that bastard can stay wherever he is."

"Jeez, Hal."

"All in a day's work. Don't worry about it. We're on it."

Maybe Barry should have been a little more welcoming when Hal first showed up. Hal was right, they didn't get to enjoy times like this very much but when they happened, it meant a lot to Barry. Truthfully, he was already in considerably better spirits than he was before Hal had showed up, and they weren't even doing anything particularly noteworthy. Just sharing mediocre microwave popcorn and watching a cheesy, thirty-year old action movie. The two of them knew better than most that either of them could disappear at any moment, and yet Barry still had trouble letting Hal talk him into simply hanging out.

But he was glad he'd given in. Not everyone enjoyed Hal's company, but his presence was oddly reassuring for Barry. Like a reminder that everything he was worried about was somehow going to work out.

"What do you wanna watch after this?" Hal asked.

Barry found himself smiling a little. "You know, Hal, I think I'll let you pick."

They played movies well into the night, sometimes watching and sometimes ignoring it in favor of each others' company. Barry found that his favorite parts were the parts where they were able to talk, and Hal just seemed to be enjoying himself all through the night. They talked about everything and anything, and it had been entirely too long since Barry was able to have conversations like that with someone. The last time he had, it was...also with Hal. Go figure.

Barry tried to stay awake, he really did, but eventually the night caught up with him and he found himself dozing off on the couch. The popcorn bowl had long since been emptied by them both, the last movie was playing, and he was tired and content. His plan had been to offer Hal his place to sleep for the rest of the night and morning, but he didn't quite make it that far.

At some point in the dead of night, he woke back up, still halfway sitting up. It wasn't dawn yet, so he couldn't have been asleep for that long. The last movie they'd put in was on the DVD menu screen, it being the only light in house.

He cursed himself for falling asleep and looked over to check on Hal on the other side of the couch but….Hal was gone.

A knot formed in his chest. Guilt? Disappoint? Something else? He got up and looked around the house to see if Hal had maybe gone into the kitchen or was taking a shower or something but….he was nowhere.

Frowning, Barry made his way back to the living room and shut off the TV. He grabbed his phone to check what time it was when he noticed that he had an unread message from an unknown number.

" _Had to run. Catch you soon. -Hal"_

While he couldn't help but feel a bit….negative about it, he supposed he should be thankful that Hal stopped by at all. And he was, but something about waking up to Hal being gone really made his heart sink a little bit.

Figuring he should get some more sleep while he still could, he shuffled off to his bedroom. Though, he couldn't help but feel like he might be lucky if he managed to get any sleep.

Sometimes, Barry would run for the sake of running. It was something he did more often when he was younger, but even now it was still a nice release sometimes. Running had long become a process to help him think or calm him down. Though sometimes, it was just nice to feel the world pass him by.

Nothing out of the ordinary had happened today. Work was fine, Justice League things were pretty quiet, no major crisis in Central City. Yet still, for whatever reason, he was feeling restless, so he decided to go on a cross-country run. Of course, a "cross-country run" for a speedster was quite a literal term.

Maybe his restlessness was just because he still missed Iris. But what could he do? He'd made mistakes and had tried to rebuild that bridge, but she simply wasn't having it. It had been about a few months now since he told Hal that it was officially over, which had been the first time he'd said it out loud. He'd hoped that it would have gotten easier to accept after that. Well, it was, but it also wasn't.

The hardest part was coming home alone at night. An empty house just didn't feel like a home. It just didn't feel right. Hal had gotten on his case about working too much, but at least when Barry was working (at either of his "jobs"), he was making himself useful. Being at home alone just made him feel pathetic.

It was too bad that Hal wasn't able to live on Earth anymore. Hal was one of the few people he could relax around that hadn't decided he was no longer worth their time.

Thinking too much about that made him feel more alone, so he pushed the thoughts out of his mind and just ran. He figured he'd head west and make a large loop back around to Central City. He disliked the desert, so best to get that over with first.

It didn't take long before he hit California. He figured he'd head north along the state's coastline on his loop, which, before too long, placed him right in Coast City.

Hm. Coming here was probably a bad idea. Well, it didn't matter either way. He'd be out of it quicker than anyone would know he was here.

A flash of green flooded his vision. He was forced to halt in his tracks as a green wall construct about three times his height appeared in his path on a secluded side street.

"There you are! Do you know how hard it is to find you when you're going that fast?"

Barry looked up to see Hal floating over him. "I didn't know you were back home."

The wall construct disappeared as Hal descended, meeting Barry on the street. "I am now. Don't see you too often in these parts, Bar."

Barry rubbed his shoulder idly. Hal finding him here in his hometown of all places probably looked a bit strange. "I, ah, was running…"

Hal just laughed, playfully punching Barry in the shoulder. "I know, dummy. But hey, since you're here, wanna grab a bite to eat? I know a place."

Barry gave a half-smile. "I'm actually pretty hungry."

"Dude, you're always hungry. Come on, follow me."

Hal had intended for burgers and milkshakes to be his treat, but sort of forgot that he hadn't been on Earth in about a month and as such, had no money on him. Whoops. Barry didn't mind paying though. It was actually pretty nice that Hal had turned up and offered to hang with him for a bit. For Barry, it was a much better way to spend his evening than just mindlessly running.

Currently, Hal had no apartment in Coast City. His situation was….weird. He would have liked to take Barry back to his place to just chill for a bit, but when he realized he couldn't because he didn't have one, he got an even better idea instead. The sun was setting, so it was the perfect time to watch it at a lookout point just outside of the city.

It was one of Hal's favorite spots, so the two of them sat on a bench together, eating burgers and drinking milkshakes. Barry's share of the burgers was significantly larger, but, well….speedster metabolism and all that.

"What brings you back this time around?" Barry asked between large bites.

Hal answered quickly. Too quickly? "Checking on the rookies."

"So you probably won't be here for long then," Barry said. It wasn't a question. At this point, it was an expectation. Hal never stayed on Earth long anymore. Okay, yeah, it bummed him out a bit, but Hal didn't need to know that.

The only reason why Hal's pout wasn't more obvious was because he could hide his expression behind his burgers. "All the more reason to make the most of my time. What's new with you, Bar? How's the league? Bats swallow his pride enough to say he misses me yet?"

Barry laughed. "Not quite. I wouldn't hold your breath. You can hardly get him to admit he misses his own kids."

Hal laughed with him. "Sounds about right." Heh...unable to admit you miss someone. Yeah, Hal wouldn't know a _thing_ about that. Not at all. Part of him wondered what the use was anyway. As much as he almost hated having something in common with Bruce, he understood it. Relationships of all kinds, even with the people closest to you, could go awry at any moment. For Hal, it felt like they often did. His entire relationship with Carol was proof enough of that. Whenever he wanted to tell someone he missed them, it felt like it always had been after he'd screwed up, which always seemed like the worst time to say it. And what if they didn't miss you back? Well, that just sucked. Why make things weird by saying something so sentimental? Hal was terrible at that kind of stuff anyway, so why bother? Even if it was….

"Hal? You alright?"

Hal blinked, looking back at Barry. "Yeah, why?"

"You looked….like you were thinking pretty hard there for a minute."

Hal leaned back on the bench, sipping his milkshake. "I just miss this city, you know? You, Bats, Supes….you guys always return back home. My home is Mogo right now."

Barry set his burgers and milkshake aside, looking over at Hal with a concerned glance. His voice was soft. "Hal...I know you're not based in this sector anymore, but no matter where you are….no matter where you're working….your home is right here."

Hal looked back at him, but he found that he could hardly take the look in Barry's eyes and the softness of his tone and quickly directed his gaze back to the city. If he didn't know any better, he would almost say that it even scared him a little. But that was ridiculous. Hal Jordan knew no fear.

By "right here," Barry undoubtedly meant Coast City, or even Earth, but Hal couldn't help but take those words in another way.

He'd never been able to call someone, a _person_ , home before. In his mind, now wasn't that time either. It was just...too complicated.

Hal didn't really have a home. Literal or figurative.

"Yeah," he said quietly, forcing an answer. "Thanks, Bar."


	2. Chapter 2

It was just…unfair. Hal would show up out of the blue, he and Barry would laugh together and even manage to have fun patrolling together. When Hal showed up, he had a way of making the whole world feel a lot lighter. A lot of that had to do with the reckless way Hal approached many things both on and off the battlefield, but his attitude still helped Barry relax, even if it was just a little.

But those moments were so few and far between because of who they were. It wasn't his fault or Hal's fault, it was just the nature of the business. And Barry wasn't so high-maintenance in his friendships that he required constant contact with Hal. It was just...those moments where he felt lighter only happened when Hal was around, and if Hal wasn't around much, the heaviness in him just seemed to steadily grow over time. The Rogues, Thawne, worrying about Wally (well, both of them), worrying about Iris, keeping up with his duties as Barry and as the Flash.

It wasn't always like this. It used to be that whenever he was around Iris, he could let some of that weight off. But ever since Iris found out about the secrets he kept from her, they hadn't been able to go back to the way things were. It had been a few months since he'd seen Hal, and since then, he and Iris had started talking a little, but nothing felt the same. She was afraid to trust him, and he didn't blame her. Did he still love her? Yeah. Probably. Things were just so cloudy now that he didn't know what to do, so he just went about his life pretending like everything was fine, because that was the only way he could convince himself that it was.

He had friends other than Hal, sure, but no one he felt as comfortable with as Hal. The closest was probably Bruce, but Bruce was very….Bruce. Not exactly the type of guy to have a beer with. There had been a few times where he'd call up Bruce to get his advice on a case he was working on since they shared knowledge and appreciation for forensics, and usually Bruce was more than happy to help (he never expressed the fact, but Barry could tell), but beyond that, Bruce wasn't very talkative. Getting Bruce to talk about anything other than a case was tricky. Most of what Barry knew was going on in Bruce's life was things he heard from other people. Dick Grayson was living and working in Blüdhaven, Damian Wayne was working with the Teen Titans and Clark's son Jon, Tim Drake was working with Bruce in Gotham, and Jason Todd was….well, Barry had heard some things that he didn't quite believe but it wasn't his place.

He was just most comfortable with Hal, but Hal was usually nowhere on Earth to be found because he was primarily based off-world now. At least when he was protecting Earth's sector, he would return to Earth after a mission, but that wasn't the case anymore and hadn't been for a long time. Simon and Jessica were great lanterns, but sometimes Barry was nostalgic for the old days.

Ever since the time Hal patrolled with him a few months ago, things had been pretty quiet in Central City. The vast majority of the rogues were locked up, and anyone that was left was probably a bit spooked by the fact that a green lantern had been spotted in Central City twice within a few months. It was actually pretty nice. It made Barry's patrol runs short and sweet, even if he did feel a bit lost when he got back home.

It was a particularly cold night, so Barry was particularly grateful to get home a little faster. He'd just finished running through the streets of Central City, looking for any signs of trouble, but not finding more than some petty theft. It was still pretty early in the evening so Barry wondered what he should do with himself. Maybe he'd look over files from the crime lab for some current cases….

He discreetly entered his home, still in uniform, and took his cowl off with a soft sigh. He'd been coming home to an empty house for the better part of a year now, but he still wasn't quite used to it.

Then, his justice league communicator started sounding with Bruce's voice. "Batman to all points. Zod has returned to Earth. Superman is on his way to fight him in Metropolis. Anyone available should assist him."

Zod? Hal said that Zod was in the phantom zone. Well, there would be a time for that question later.

"Batman, this is Flash. I can assist in Metropolis."

"Negative. You're needed at the Watchtower."

"Why?"

"We need your assistance in the med bay. Make it quick. Anyone else should assist Superman. Batman out."

Assistance in the med bay? What? That wasn't normally Barry's task as he wasn't exactly a doctor. While he was confused, he wasn't about to question Bruce, so he put his cowl back on and quickly made his way to the Watchtower. He trusted Bruce, and Bruce was never hesitant to place him on the battlefield before, so there must be good reason why he was sending him to the med bay of all places, but what in the world could it be?

Bruce greeted him when he arrived, blocking him before he could enter the med bay. "The Green Lantern Corps were the first ones to detect Zod's movement towards Earth. They sent Jordan and Rayner. Rayner suffered minor injuries and is in Metropolis assisting Clark."

Barry felt his chest freeze. "Where's Hal? Is he okay?"

"He's hurt pretty bad. Zod managed to get his ring off him and had a field day. Rayner brought him in. He's awake, but in pain. We gave him some meds but he seems to still be hurting, and he keeps trying to leave since his ring came back to him. I need you to calm him down. He's in no shape to be out there."

Barry was torn between being worried about Hal and confused about the situation. Wouldn't he be more needed on the battlefield? "You brought me up here to keep him tied down? We have restraints for that." Granted, those restraints were usually reserved for villains, but…..

Bruce frowned. "I figured he's suffered enough."

Barry felt a twinge of guilt and looked down. This was his best friend, and here he was being selfish. Bruce didn't even really like Hal and was being more humane. Barry was ashamed of himself.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Bruce's expression soften just a pinch. "Just talk to him. He listens to you. I'm going down to Metropolis."

"Yeah. Be careful down there."

Bruce left without another word and Barry rushed into the med bay.

Hal was laying on the bed, hooked up to a heart monitor and a thousand other machines, including a morphine drip. He was still in his uniform, or what was left of it, as it was in tatters. His body was decorated with bruises and bandages. Most of it seemed concentrated around his chest, which was entirely wrapped in bandages. Barry shuddered to think about what Zod might have done to him.

Over the beeping of the heart monitor was Hal's groans, partly from pain and partly from aggravation. If Barry knew Hal—and he did— then he knew that Hal was lamenting his defeat and in a hurry to get back at Zod for doing this to him.

Barry removed his cowl and hurried to his bedside. He couldn't even tell if Hal had noticed him coming in.

"Hal? Hal, can you hear me?"

Hal's vision was out of focus, but when he heard Barry's voice he paused for a moment, looking up to see a pale face with a head of blond hair. A sense of comfort washed away some of the pain and anger he was feeling and his body relaxed a little. Only a little, but he couldn't help the way Barry's presence affected him.

His voice was weak. "Barry…."

"Hal, take it easy. You were straining yourself when I walked in here."

Hal frowned, trying to focus on the sight of Barry next to him. "Need to stop Zod. He wants to decimate Metropolis…."

He started to sit up, but Barry placed his hands on his shoulders to gently stop him. "At least half the league is down there, including Clark. You're not going anywhere." Barry could read between the lines of what Bruce had said. Hal was lucky to be alive. The fact that he was even thinking of going out there in this condition was insane.

Hal seemed to calm down a little. He stopped struggling and let Barry gently push him back down, though it wasn't an easy pill for him to swallow. Biting his lower lip, he turned his head to the side away from Barry. He was silent.

His pout was almost...oddly adorable to Barry, but the circumstances were still forefront in the blond's mind. He couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Hal though, because he was sure this was a matter of pride for the lantern. Unfortunately, Hal had a hard time learning that even someone with the most powerful weapon in the universe had to suffer defeat sometimes. Even after all these years and everything he'd been through, it was still a tough lesson for Hal.

Barry didn't consider himself to be the best person to talk to when someone was feeling down, but he could try. "Hal...this isn't your fault. I know what you're thinking. You're going back in your mind, thinking about whatever missteps you made and thinking about how you should have done it differently. Guess what, Hal. It doesn't matter. What you need to be doing now is focusing on healing so you're even better when you go back out there. Overthinking the situation isn't going to help you learn. When the time comes, you'll remember. It becomes instinct."

A part of Hal wanted to quip back with a sarcastic comment thanking him for the lecture, but that was just a knee-jerk reaction. The truth was he knew that Barry was right, even if it was difficult to talk about it. And...most importantly, he appreciated that Barry was trying to make him feel better instead of just telling him how stupid he was for trying to leave.

He wasn't used to someone being this kind to him. Everyone in his life lectured him with every move he made, from his family to the league and even the corps. But Barry was never like that, was he? Sometimes Barry would nudge him in the right direction, but he usually wasn't as hard on him as everyone else.

Then again, Barry had missed most of Hal's worst years. Hal wasn't sure if that had anything to do with it, or if it was just Barry's nature anyway. He'd like to think it was the latter.

"Barry."

"Yeah?"

"Have a seat. You're gonna be here for awhile."

Barry immediately looked for a chair and pulled it up to Hal's bedside, sitting down. He was still a bit too restless to sit, but if he was keeping Hal company, he might as well.

"Well, it's nice to see you, in any event."

Hal gave a dry laugh. He couldn't laugh too hard though, because it made the pain his chest flare up again. Luckily, another shot of morphine was just a button push away. Bruce was in his head telling him not to go crazy with it, but Bruce wasn't laid up right now after having been punched, kicked, and tossed around like a rag doll by Zod and his gang. "Do you know how often I try to make it to Earth? I can't live on Earth anymore because of the corps, but I try to visit, you know?"

There was a slight but still noticeable slur in Hal's speech that Barry noticed. Well, if it was meds, which was entirely possible, then it would explain why Hal wasn't thinking straight. Even on Hal terms. If Hal was going to ramble, well...Barry didn't mind letting him.

"I don't know how you stand being away from home so long," Barry said. "I can hardly be in the Watchtower without feeling out of my element."

"Yeah, well, I can make excuses sometimes. Check on this or that. I just need the chance to…." To do what? There was a barrier in his mind, a mental block, but between the pain and the meds, he was starting to forget why. Well, if nothing else, at least the pain was starting to subside again as the meds kicked in. He wondered if they'd given him a weaker doss to start with. How dare they. Well, okay, so his mind was just a bit foggy but it wasn't anything he couldn't work through. His brain was working just fine right now, thank you very much.

What was he talking about again?

The words rolled out of him before he could think about it. "I just need the chance to see you."

That gave Barry a pause. To see _him?_ Meds or not, Hal wasn't exactly the sentimental type. Well, not that Barry had ever really seen. Did Carol or any of the other women Hal had been with ever see that side of him? This was the same Hal Jordan who said he didn't ever want to be "tied down." Why would he...make up excuses to the lantern corps to come all the way to Earth from the center of the universe just to see Barry? He was sure that Hal missed his company from time to time, but this felt much, much bigger.

How would he define something like that? Was he overthinking it? After all, Hal traveled across space so often, and the corps was probably so used to Hal doing whatever he wanted, regardless of orders, that maybe it wasn't a big deal to him. But the tone in Hal's voice suggested that maybe it was. But again, maybe it was the meds.

There was no reason he needed to be overthinking this. And there was definitely no reason for the strange feeling in his chest.

All the way across the universe. To see _him._

He must have been silent for too long because Hal started laughing. "You look like the cat got your tongue. Maybe you need this morphine more than I do."

Hal was never going to bring this up again, was he? He would just go on pretending like it didn't happen. Maybe Barry should too. "That's funny. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit, but this helps."

"The morphine?"

"No, you idi—"

Suddenly, their Justice League communicators sounded with Clark's voice: "Flash! Zod is heading for the Watchtower! Get yourself and Green Lantern out of there!"

Shit. So much for Zod just wanting to destroy Metropolis. Okay, this was probably the better option, but did it have to happen when Hal was still healing?

"On it, Superman," Barry replied after quickly putting his cowl back on.

Hal, still a bit dazed, sat up immediately. "Zod?!"

Barry was working quickly to unconnect him from the machines and the IV drip, which made Hal flinch just a bit but the lantern didn't complain. "I'm taking you out of here. I'll take you to Central City." He gently but quickly brought Hal to his feet. "Can you stand?"

Hal nodded, though it was pretty clear he was still in pain. If he was in this much pain even with some meds in his system, Barry didn't even want to think about what he would have been like without it.

Barry guided Hal's arm around his shoulder and wrapped his own arm around him in turn, guiding him quickly out of the med bay and down a hall toward a teleporter. Thankfully, it wasn't very far, but all the warnings from the various monitors of the watchtower were blaring loudly as they detected Zod's movement towards the tower. Barry moved as quick as he could, bringing himself and Hal into the teleporter and quickly fumbling with the settings to get them back on Earth.

"Come on, come on….," Barry muttered. Hal's weight pressed on him, but the lantern was silent.

Suddenly, a loud boom.

Then, absolute silence.

Barry was probably only out for a few seconds before he came to again, and he noticed two things right off. The first was that he was floating, which meant that there was no way he could possibly be in the Watchtower. The second thing was that he was surrounded by a giant bright green bubble.

His heart stopped as he followed the source, seeing Hal with his arm pointed in his direction. It was a sight that Barry doubted he would ever forget: Hal with his domino mask half torn off, his Green Lantern uniform ripped to shreds in most places, most of the exposed skin was covered in bruises, blood, and bandages. Barry knew that he was pain despite having some meds in him. Not to mention the fog his head was in. And yet, he was looking right at Barry with concern and determination.

It was impressive that Hal managed to keep concentration enough to make a construct to save Barry's life from the vacuum of space, and to give himself a forcefield as well.

Hal's voice came over the comms. "I got you."

Barry's heart was pounding for so many reasons. "Hal! Get us back to Earth!"

He would thank him later. Honest. It was just that Zod was somewhere out here right now and Hal was still injured and he couldn't let anything happen…..

Hal nodded, beginning his flight back to Earth, gently guiding Barry with him in his safe-to-breathe bubble construct. Barry had been in space before, sometimes with Hal's help in a similar manner, but never when Hal was this injured. Any break in Hal's concentration would kill them both.

But Barry trusted him.

They began their decent down through Earth's atmosphere and Barry stood up in his bubble, looking upward to see if he could see any sign of Zod or Clark. Nothing. And from here, it was hard to tell what exactly had happened to the Watchtower but…he'd have to find that out later.

In minutes, which was pretty impressive considering that Hal's injuries, they made it to Central City. Hal had led them to a secluded alley near Barry's house, which Barry thought was interesting placement but the least of his worries right now. The moment that Hal's feet hit the ground, the forcefield around himself and the bubble construct around Barry vanished. Immediately, he began to fall forward but Barry sped forth and caught him in his arms.

"Got _you_ this time," Barry said quietly.

Hal's uniform vanished, leaving a shirt, his pilot jacket, and jeans in its place. Barry realized that he had gone unconscious and had most likely not heard him.

Keeping a hold on Hal, Barry sounded over the comms. "This is Flash. Green Lantern and I made it safely to Earth, but he's badly injured."

Diana was the first to respond. "Take him to the old Hall of Justice building. Jessica will meet you there and aid him. Come to Metropolis as soon as you can. Zod's family is still on the loose here."

"Did...Did Zod destroy the Watchtower?"

Clark's voice came on. "Not entirely, but there's no time to explain. Follow Diana's orders and go!"

Barry shot off, cradling Hal in his arms.

The Justice League ended up trapping Zod and his family in a special prison created by the Green Lantern Corps. Barry had his concerns about this plan because he remembered conversations with Hal and Clark about how often Zod managed to escape whatever prison he was ever thrown in, and had managed to escape each time. Clark assured him that he was secure, and that the Green Lantern Corps were keeping an eye out as well. Most of the rest of the league seemed to feel pretty good about the outcome because, well, they did stop Zod and they kept casualties in Metropolis to a minimum. It could have been a lot worse.

As for the Watchtower, it turned out that Zod had flown himself directly through the wing that Barry and Hal had been on. It was as though Zod had fashioned himself into a big Kryptonian cannon, launching himself through station, because he'd overheard that a couple of league members were there and had been incapacitated. He figured it would slow Clark and the rest of the league down. It did, but not for too long.

Hal had saved Barry's life, plain and simple. If Hal hadn't managed to push through his pain and medicine to concentrate on saving his friends life, Barry would have been lost to the vacuum in space. Quite possibly Hal as well, depending on how his ring would have reacted. Fortunately, that was an answer they didn't have to know.

Hal was healing nicely. Many of his injuries had resulted in some internal bleeding and a couple of broken ribs. He was actually fortunate that the injuries weren't worse, something he attributed to Kyle getting him away from Zod when he did. Getting away from Zod hadn't been easy, either, because Kyle had suffered a few minor injuries himself. Still, Barry would have to remember to thank Kyle for bringing Hal back. Good thing lanterns almost never worked alone these days.

The surprising part was that the Green Lantern Corps put Hal on a temporary leave. Apparently this wasn't only because of his injuries, but because on both occasions he'd faced Zod, he'd acted recklessly. They claimed that this recklessness lead to Zod doing more damage on Earth, since Hal and Kyle had failed to stop him from getting that far. Kyle had been reprimanded, but not placed on a leave like Hal. They wanted Hal to "reconsider about his tactics" before he came back. In a way, Barry understood. If Hal kept returning to his old reckless habits instead of learning to plan things through, even on the fly, then it could continue to lead to disastrous consequences, as it had on multiple occasions before. He could have worked with Kyle instead of just flying off to attack immediately.

On the other hand, he knew this had to be frustrating for Hal. Even so, a part of Barry was glad to have just a little bit more time with him, after everything that happened. He had no idea how in the world they would even begin to discuss the conversations between them that had taken place on the Watchtower, but Barry was sick and tired of fumbling with his relationships with people. He was tired of ignoring something that he knew he was supposed to confront.

Since Hal was stuck on Earth for awhile, and since he had no place of his own on the planet currently, Barry offered him his couch. There was no way he was going to stay at the Watchtower because, well, it needed a lot of repair thanks to Zod. He couldn't really stay in the old Hall of Justice building because it lacked most furnishings since the league had moved to the Watchtower. Barry volunteered almost immediately, which was fine by everyone else, including Hal. Perfect.

Bringing Hal home was kind of a surreal experience. The only other time Hal had been here was for that impromptu movie night. Now, Hal would be staying here for a while, just him and Barry alone.

Barry unlocked and opened the front door, letting Hal in before closing the door behind them both. "Make yourself at home. There's plenty of food in the kitchen. Whatever you need, just say the word."

Hal moved to the couch in the living room, taking a seat without bothering to take off his jacket or shoes. He reached for the T.V. remote, leaned back, and began flipping through channels. "This place looks like it's hardly lived in. Either you clean like crazy or you're never here."

Barry took off his shoes at the door and hung his jacket. The truth was, it was a little of both. He worked so much that he didn't spend much time at home, and if he did need to clean, it was easy to get it done quickly because of his speed. "Well, you know. Work and all that. You want anything to drink?"

"Got anything alcoholic?"

"I have juice."

"Good enough. I'll take it."

Barry sped to the kitchen, poured two glasses of grape juice, and sped back. He joined Hal on the couch, handing him a glass. The lantern greedily began to drink the entire glass at once and that was when it all made sense to Barry. Hal never got to spend more than a couple hours on Earth unless there was some major crisis, so he was enjoying his time here.

Though, Barry still wished he'd take his shoes off.

Barry took a sip of his own juice and leaned forward, watching Hal flip through all the channels. It occurred to him that he didn't really know what kind of shows Hal liked. Those weren't really the type of conversations they ever had time for.

"How are you feeling?"

Hal finished off his juice and upon hearing Barry's question, angrily set the empty glass down next to Barry's full one. "Pissed off, obviously. What the hell was I supposed to do when I saw Zod? Let him get to Kyle? Kyle doesn't know Zod. The first time we fought him, Kyle called him 'Evil Superman.' Kid's great, but naive. But no, I'm the one that gets punished for putting myself in the line of fire. Maybe John was right. Maybe bringing the guardians back was a bad idea."

"I meant your injuries." Barry had nothing to say on lantern politics. It wasn't his place. He was more worried about Hal's health anyway.

Hal sighed. "They're fine, don't worry about it."

Barry frowned briefly, hesitating. "Listen, Hal, about what happened at the Watchtower..."

"What? I mean, you'd do the same for me if the roles were reversed," Hal said, still flipping through channels. He didn't care about what was on, this was just one of those little things he missed. "Just because I was hurting like hell doesn't mean I couldn't use the ring to save your ass. I've been doing this for more than a few years. Nothing breaks my concentration."

Barry gave a faint smile. "Never doubted you."

"Good. You shouldn't."

"There's something else…."

Hal gave him a curious glance out of the corner of his eye, still primarily focused on the TV.

Barry wished he would put that damn remote down. He didn't know how he was supposed to bring this up, and Hal being distracted just made it even harder. "Do you, ah...do you remember the conversation we had at the Watchtower? Well, before everything happened."

Hal was quiet for a second, not even bothering to glance at Barry. Barry wasn't sure how to take his silence. Maybe he was trying to remember what happened through the fog his mind had been in?

"No," Hal said matter-of-factly.

The answer was so abrupt and short that it caught Barry off-guard. "No?"

"No." Hal paused again. "Why, did I say something stupid? I don't know how much morphine was in me at the time."

Goddammit. Barry knew this was stupid. Why was he even trying to fool himself? Where did he think that conversation was supposed to lead? It was a statement that Hal said while drugged up and in pain. It didn't mean anything and wasn't even really Hal talking. The idea of Hal traveling all across the universe just to see little old Barry Allen was absolutely preposterous and he felt like a fool for even believing it, for even hoping that it was true. Hal probably had thought he was telling a joke, and now he didn't remember it. Barry looked down, feeling a tightness in his chest. It became unexpectedly hard to keep his voice even.

"No. Don't worry about it," Barry said as evenly as he could.

Hal put down the TV remote suddenly, not paying attention to where the channel stopped, and stood up. "Do you mind if I use your shower? It's been…" He paused briefly to sniff himself. "...too long since I had one."

Barry shook his head. "All yours. The water takes a while to heat up, so take your time."

"Great," Hal said flatly, walking off.

When he was out of the room, Barry put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe he was letting this bother him so much. A friendship. That was it. A friendship and he was being all weird about it. Was he really so deprived since losing Iris? Was he this pathetically lonely that he was clinging onto the one person who would give him time of day? Why did he have to make this weird?

All those times that Hal had showed up out of nowhere were ingrained in his mind. It'd be a lie to say that Hal showed up whenever he needed him, but damn did Barry feel so much better when he was around. Hal essentially came into his life every so often to tell him that he didn't have to do everything alone, and then he would vanish again. Barry would be alone again. However, when he was alone, the faith that Hal would come back and grace his presence with his smile, lame humor, and fearless attitude sometimes was enough to get him out of bed in the morning. When everyone gave up on Barry or was frustrated with him or made him feel like he wasn't enough, Hal Jordan was there as a constant, as someone who always believed he was a saint even when he wasn't. Even if Hal Jordan wasn't here physically, the encouragement and support he gave Barry always remained.

Barry looked up from his hands to see some drama on TV of two guys locked in an embrace, moving in for an intimate kiss. Yeah, two guys. It wasn't weird, was it? Not weird at all, really. Barry had never really thought about it before in regards to himself. There was no room for thoughts like that before because he'd been so, well, drawn to Iris that it practically filled his every thought. Well, there was a lot of vacancy in that part of his mind and heart right now.

In any case, it didn't matter, because one thing was clear. Hal Jordan was as straight as a man got.

Is this where his thoughts were now? Him and Hal, like those guys on TV? Is that what was going on here? Is that why he was making this weird?

Hal was going to be staying with him for awhile. He couldn't make him uncomfortable and scare him off before was fully healed or before he left Earth again. So there was only one thing for him to do. Forget about it.

He shut the TV off, imagining the remote shutting off that part of his mind as well, and picked up some case files he'd brought home with him and began to look over them. Might as well do it at normal speed and keep his mind occupied longer.

Hal hated lying to Barry like that, but it was just better this way. The fact that Hal spent more time off Earth than on it was a major factor, but it was also a lot bigger than that.

Hal Jordan was very bad at relationships.

His relationships always seemed to fall apart and while the reasons always varied, the fault usually seemed to lie with him. Since he'd lost Carol, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he wasn't built for relationships at all. Maybe he should just be grateful for the friends he had.

There were few friends in the world like Barry. Here he was, in Barry's shower, using his soap and shampoo. Tonight he'd sleep on his couch, eat his food, watch his TV….

And Hal had just lied right to his face.

He felt like a colossal jerk, but it was better to let Barry down now than to hurt him more later over something that Hal was sure would never work.

Hal tried to close his eyes in the shower, lose himself in the cascading water but it was no use. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw Barry. He saw Barry's surprised face when Hal showed up in Central City out of nowhere, Barry laughing while they had beer together in a bar, Barry getting knocked out for a minute while the Watchtower was being ripped apart….

So, closing his eyes was out. He washed his hair, humming a random tune to try to distract himself. What was Barry doing right now? Watching some show? Cleaning? Reading?

Nope. There he goes again. Fuck.

As much as he hated to admit it, this whole thing was his own fault. He was the one that kept finding reasons to come to Earth _just to see Barry_. He didn't get much free time and whenever he did, seeing Barry was the first thing to come to his mind. The other Green Lanterns were great, they really were. If anything, Hal was getting along with them better than ever. Human and otherwise.

But none of them were Barry. Nobody else on Earth or throughout the entire universe understood him the same way that Barry did. Some came close, but with Barry it was just….special somehow. He couldn't explain it.

No one else was Barry, but Hal didn't deserve him.

Hal wrapped up his shower, trying to decide if it was worse to be alone with his thoughts or to be alone with Barry trying to act like he didn't want to grab him by the collar of his shirt and plant one right on him.

Speaking of shirts. Hal realized he kinda…..didn't have a change of clothes. Well, crap. Should he just….make a construct of an outfit? No, that was dumb, even for him. Hmm….

Barry was looking over the files for the murder case of a young woman when Hal returned from the shower. Was Hal….wearing his clothes?

"I don't have clean clothes and mine smell," Hal said in response to the look on Barry's face, plopping next to him on the couch again.

….Oh. Of course. Barry felt silly. Why didn't he think to offer some clothes? Some host he was. "It's no problem. Like I said, make yourself at home."

It never really occurred to Barry before, but he and Hal were almost the same size. Similar height, probably similar in weight. Hal fit his clothes perfectly. It was probably the first time that Barry had ever seen him in a red button-up shirt but….it was a good look for him. Hal kept the top two buttons undone, probably because he felt stuff in such a nice shirt as it was, and it only made him look even more suave and handsome.

He turned back to the files in his hand, because he really needed to focus on something other than Hal. His cheeks felt warm, which was just profoundly embarrassing, and he really hoped Hal didn't notice.

It wasn't gonna happen. It just wasn't gonna happen.

So. Murder case. Woman, 23 years old. Recent college graduate. Murdered in her apartment. No suspects but there were some fingerprints from a jealous ex boyf—

Hal appeared in front of him, pushing the files in his hand down, away from his face. The expression in Hal's eyes was unreadable. There was a sternness, but there didn't seem to be any anger. Just very focused, and all of his attention was on Barry.

Barry's heart pounded so hard he felt the vibrations throughout his chest and arms. "Hal?"

Hal tore the files from his grasp, carelessly tossing them aside as he leaned forward, pressing his lips against Barry's.

All at once, Barry's mind was in a whirlwind. In an instant, so many questions and thoughts raced through his mind but in the moment, none of it mattered because Hal Jordan was kissing him and he had to do something.

So, he kissed him back. Hard.

Hal gave a small surprised noise against his lips, which had Barry's stomach doing backflips. For a few short but incredible moments, their lips danced together, sending shivers through them both.

The shiver was so intense for Barry that he was almost expecting his body to give off actual sparks akin to the static electricity he let off when he was using his speed. He could still feel it as their lips parted, and the whole experience was so exhilarating that he had to catch his breath.

Their lips were still so close, barely touching. Barry watched Hal's eyes open, noting the way that the lantern's expression had changed. The strong features on Hal's face were noticeably softer as he looked at Barry with a loving expression that Barry had never seen before.

"I got to thinking," Hal said, his voice quiet. "I've never been afraid of anything in my life. Why should I start now?"

Oh, god. Then this meant….

"You do remember," Barry said. "What you said up there….it was true….wasn't it?"

"Bar….shut up…."

Hal leaned in for another kiss, slower this time. Barry accepted his invitation and this time around, it was softer and sweeter, yet somehow also even more exhilarating than the last one. Barry was quickly discovering that the more he pushed Hal, the more Hal pushed back. The end result was a tidal wave of a feeling that he felt like he could drown in if he allowed it.

Alright, Allen. Slow down. This is happening really fast.

Barry broke the kiss again, but found Hal's hand on the couch and intertwined their fingers. Hal's ring pressed against Barry's fingers, a reminder of what would likely be their fate.

All at once, Barry's heart sank again. This...this wasn't going to go anywhere, was it? It couldn't.

"Hey," Hal called, his voice a little gruff. He reached for Barry's chin with his free hand, lifting it gently so they could make eye contact again. "Don't quit on me."

"But...could we really..."

"I'll find a way."

That was his big plan, huh? He'd just "find a way" and it would all work out? Seemed about right for Hal, as he seemed to follow essentially the same pattern for everything else in his life as well. It was so unlike Barry, who preferred to have everything mapped out, planned out. Even though Barry's life didn't allow him to be prepared for everything, he liked being able to plan when he could. When he couldn't, when the situation was out of his hands, it tended to have bad results.

"I got you," Hal said in the same quiet, soft manner he'd said those words before.

Hal lived much of his life in the moment. Maybe it was time for Barry to learn to do the same.

"Then kiss me again, Hal."


	3. Chapter 3

Barry might move fast on his feet, but as for the other aspects of his life, that was a different story. In dating, he was more traditional and wanted to keep things moving at what he felt like was a reasonable pace. He never moved too quickly with Iris and never pictured himself doing anything different.

So why did Hal make him feel differently?

Here they were, on Barry's couch, bodies close and lips locked. They'd only just kissed each other for the first time but neither of them wanted to stop. Neither of them could be sure where they were going from here but Hal was going on instinct, as he always did, and it somehow pushed Barry to do the same thing.

He wasn't sure exactly how he ended up laying on the couch with Hal on top of him, but the pressing weight of the lantern's body of his own was such a pleasant weight on his chest. He loved the way that felt and the warmth their bodies were sharing. Hal's very presence was so invigorating no matter what they were doing together. No wonder Barry missed him all the time. He made him feel _alive._

Hal's strong, rough fingers were tangled up in his hair as their lips moved slowly across each each other. Barry's arms were wrapped around Hal's middle tightly, as if he were afraid that letting him go would mean watching him disappear.

This moment was so, so good.

Then Hal decided to push a little more.

His hands moved down to the Barry's waist, fingers sneakily sliding underneath his sweater. A shiver ran down Barry's spine, which Hal seemed to take great satisfaction in as he teasingly bit the speedster's bottom lip.

Somehow, Barry's mind shot back to reality. The newness of all this. The uncertainty of where it was going. His cherished friendship with Hal. Knowing that, because of their separate superhero lives, an actual relationship would be near impossible. The fear that all of this was a mistake and would lead to the pair resenting each other. His mind was spinning and as Hal's hands caressed his stomach and chest underneath his sweater, it all of a sudden was too much. He wanted him, he knew he did, and how much that was true was terrifying.

"Hal," he whispered, finding it unexpectedly difficult to get the words out.

"Hm?"

"Hal, I…"

Hal finally paused and looked down at Barry with a calm but curious glance.

"I don't think I can do this right now," Barry finally said. He frowned, internally kicking himself. Why was he making this out to be such a big deal? If it wasn't a big deal for Hal, why should it be for him? Hal was going to think he didn't want to be with him at all, and that's not the message Barry wanted to communicate. What a mess of a person Barry was.

Hal was froze for a moment, looking like he was processing this slowly. Probably because, well, he was so turned on, Barry guessed. "Yeah. Yeah, no problem," Hal whispered.

Hal pulled his hands from Barry and pushed himself off the blond. Barry followed his example and the pair sat up on the couch. He wanted to explain what he meant, but struggled to find the right words.

"Listen," Hal said. "Don't be afraid to tell me if I'm doing too much."

"I still want….this, I just want to move a little more…."

"Slow," Hal finished. He reached over, placing his hand on top of Barry's. "Don't worry. It's okay. I get it."

The gentle gesture and words made Barry's heart flutter. He still couldn't believe how deeply he was falling into all this. If anything, Hal being so understanding was just making him fall harder.

"Thanks…"

Hal was smirking at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're cute when you blush."

Barry pouted. "Don't push your luck."

Hal laughed.

This was one of those rare time where Barry wished he didn't have to work. Having Hal around the house livened the place up quite a bit. There was just a certain energy that Hal had about him and for Barry, it was contagious. It was nice to have some company at home, for however long this would last.

Hal had slept on the couch while Barry had the bed because, well, they weren't ready to go that far yet. Barry had offered Hal the bed instead, but Hal insisted the couch was more comfortable. It was clearly a lie, but Barry eventually let it go. In any event, when Barry left for work early in the morning and Hal was fast asleep on his couch still, he supposed that it wasn't all that bad.

Work was about normal. Nothing out of the ordinary, but time seemed to drag on a lot slower than normal. All he could think about was getting back home to Hal. Was Hal eating proper meals while he was gone? Was he in any pain or was he still healing well enough? Was he bored? Was he even still at the house at all? He almost wanted to offer Hal to patrol with him tonight, but he wasn't entirely sure how well Hal was healed currently so that was probably off the table. Kind of a shame because he liked patrolling with him, but he'd much rather have a healthy Hal than not.

He'd told Hal the night before that when he got home, he'd cook dinner for them tonight. And he could, but it was getting late by the time he left and, quite frankly, he was kind of tired. So, instead, he chose to pick up a couple of large pizzas on the way home. He remembered exactly how Hal liked his pizza and it aligned with Barry's tastes, so it wasn't a hard decision.

He would get home, have pizza with Hal, and they could just enjoy each other's company. It was going to be a really nice evening.

He arrived home, pizza boxes in his arms as he pushed the door open, smile on his face. "Hal, I decided to just pick up some pi—"

Hal was standing in the middle of the living room, in full Green Lantern uniform. Barry's smile faded and he couldn't help but feel a little...disappointed.

Hal looked at him as he lowered his fist, having just been communicating with his ring. "I have to go."

Barry shut the door behind him. "I thought you were on leave," he said, surprised at how calm his tone was. He didn't want to guilt Hal for doing what he had to do, but damn...couldn't they have their time?

"I am, but there's an emergency on Mogo."

"Are you still hurt?"

Hal averted his gaze, and it almost looked as though he wanted to lie. "Only a little. I'll protect my chest with a construct, but I need to go."

Barry wanted to ask him if he'd be back, but he was afraid of the answer. "Yeah. Take care of yourself."

Hal gave him a thumbs up and turned in the direction of the back door to leave.

"Wait, Hal."

Hal looked back at him from over his shoulder.

"My door is always open."

Hal nodded. "Thanks, Bar." He headed out the back door and, in a green beam of light, was gone.

Barry sighed, flopping on his couch and placing his pizza boxes on the coffee table. Well, it was a good thing he had a massive appetite, he guessed.

The hard part about Hal leaving the planet wasn't so much that he was gone, but there was never any telling when he'd be back. Barry wanted to leave Hal some pizza, but he probably wouldn't be back tonight. He wanted to place a comfortable pillow and blanket on the couch in case Hal came back and needed to rest, but they might be sitting there for weeks. He wanted to buy a six pack of a beer that Hal liked while he was shopping, but for all Barry knew, it would expire before Hal got back.

And, frankly, placing reminders of Hal all over the house was probably a bad idea.

He couldn't help but notice that the shirt and pants that Hal had borrowed from him were missing, which had to mean that Hal was still wearing them. In a way, Barry envied that Hal could basically wear anything "under" his uniform because his uniform was a construct. Barry didn't have that luxury. But he didn't know if Hal was still wearing it because he'd been in a hurry, or for a more sentimental reason.

Then again, knowing Hal, it was likely the former.

He was kidding himself with this, wasn't he? This whole thing between him and Hal. They'd hardly had a chance to even decide how this was gonna work and Hal was already getting called off. It wasn't his fault and Barry definitely didn't hold it against him for doing his duties, but sometimes the superhero life was, well, draining.

Alright, he was officially thinking about this too much. Beating himself to death over it while Hal was gone and he couldn't do anything about it was only going to make him feel worse. He couldn't do that to himself. He'd start getting distracted. So….time to focus on work again.

Although, he did leave that pillow and blanket on the couch. Just in case.

Hal didn't know how to explain to John Stewart and the rest of the corps that he needed to get back to Earth as soon as this mess was over, so he didn't. The leave he was placed on, which had been an agreement between John and the guardians, was supposed to be a punishment, not a vacation. But Hal found himself torn.

Hal took great pride in being a Green Lantern. He'd been doing this for so much of his life now that he couldn't imagine himself doing anything else. Were there downsides? Of course there were, but he still wouldn't trade this life for anything else. What would he even want to trade it for?

However.

It was really hard to be a lantern and a significant other to someone at the same time, especially now that he was stationed on Mogo rather than Sector 2814. Mogo wasn't exactly a short drive from Earth, so the whole idea seemed ridiculous. Things hadn't worked out with Carol, but with the way he felt about Barry now, he found himself wanting to take hold of those feelings and cherish them before he lost Barry, too, despite his better judgement.

Some renegade yellow lanterns had attacked some green lanterns that were on a mission, which ended up leading to a battle with even more yellow lanterns on Mogo. By the time Hal had arrived though, Soranik had showed up to bring the yellow lanterns back. She was still bitter towards the corps, particularly Kyle, so she didn't stick around long, claiming that she'd only arrived to keep her own corps in line and not to save the greens. In any event, Hal's arrival wasn't a waste because he managed to save the lives of some lanterns while he was there.

He didn't tell anyone he needed to go back to Earth, but instead tried to handle the situation in a different way.

"I suppose I need to leave now until my suspension is over?" He said to John, arms crossed, when they were alone.

John frowned. "Hal, I know you're hiding something. I don't know what it is, but don't think I haven't noticed you taking extra trips to Earth, even before the Zod incident."

"I'm just trying to stay on the corps' good side for once," Hal said, looking down.

John laughed. "That's rich, Hal. If you're trying to fool me, you're going to have to try a lot harder than that. Look, I don't care what it is. You can keep your secret _unless_ it starts interfering with the corps duties. Then we'll have to have a conversation. Otherwise, I'm trusting you. Don't ruin it."

Hal rose an eyebrow. "What about the guardians?"

"Don't worry about them. I'll take care of it. Besides, don't think I didn't notice the binding construct on your chest during battle. You're still healing. Get back to Earth and do whatever you need to do, but if I call you, you need to be out here. Otherwise, yes, you're still on leave. Understood?"

Hal smiled a little and they shook hands. "Thanks, John."

It wouldn't have been too hard for Hal to keep track of the time in Central City for when he finally got back to Earth, but he hadn't thought about it. For his entire flight back from Mogo, his mind was elsewhere. Barry's strong jaw but soft blue eyes, the way his heartbeat felt against his own chest when he laid on him, the small noise he made the first time he'd kissed him….

Goddammit. He really, really wanted this to work. He was so tired of his love life being a constant in and out cycle. The idea of "settling down" still made him a little uncomfortable, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't be nice to have something steady, someone he could count on to be waiting for him, someone whose company he couldn't get enough of.

Maybe one day Barry would get fed up and tell him that it wasn't working because Hal couldn't be around enough. While he hoped like hell that it wouldn't happen, if it did….he wanted to make the time worthwhile.

Central City was dark when he arrived in Earth's atmosphere. He asked his ring for the time. 3:03AM, it reported back. Oh. He asked his ring how long he'd been gone, and the ring reported back that it had been four days.

Four days. It didn't feel that long, but his sense of time in general had been shot years ago thanks to all the space travel he did on a regular basis.

Should he waste time until Barry was supposed to be awake in the morning? No, that wouldn't work. He wasn't sure if Barry had to work anyway and he'd already done enough to mess up Barry's work schedule in the past. Well, Barry had told him that his door was always open. That included 3am arrivals, right?

Hal knew that Barry kept his front door locked, but he wasn't sure about the back door, so he decided to try that first. Sure, he could create a construct to pick the lock, but that felt wrong. If the back door was locked though, he'd have to.

He didn't know how he felt when it turned out the back door was in fact unlocked. Barry Allen! This was unsafe! How dare he? He'd have to give him a talking to. He walked in, locking the door behind him and quietly making his way into the house.

The house was dark and quiet. Barry's bedroom door was closed, something that Hal found funny since he currently lived alone. He quietly stepped to and opened the door, just to take a peek inside.

Barry was fast asleep on his side, his blankets only up to his waist. He looked so peaceful like that, Hal thought, his face relaxed and his hair messy. Not a care in the world. No way in hell that Hal was going to ruin that.

He quietly shut the door again and went into the living room. Maybe it was because of how dark and peaceful his house was, or maybe it was because he'd just had a long flight to get back here, but it was hitting him how tired he was. He let his lantern uniform disappear and in its place was the red shirt and black pants that he'd borrowed from Barry earlier. Truthfully, he needed a change of clothes, but that would have to wait until morning.

When he got to the couch, he noticed a pillow and a blanket that hadn't been there before. He almost wondered if Barry had a guest here in the time he was gone, but the blanket was neatly folded so that didn't make much sense.

Maybe Barry had….left it here? For him?

In any event, he plopped down on the couch, laid his head on the pillow, and curled up with the blanket. This was infinitely more comfortable than anything on Mogo.

He fell asleep within minutes.

Four days? Five days? Six? Barry could never be sure of his sense of time anymore. The speed force was largely to blame for that, so he had to be careful sometimes. But Hal had been the first thing he thought about when he woke up in the morning, and that's how he knew he was in big trouble.

Barry rolled out of bed close to noon but somehow that still felt so early. The first thing on his mind after Hal was how hungry he was, so he figured he'd make some breakfast before deciding how he should spend his day.

He left his bedroom and immediately caught sight of the figure on his couch. He paused, but quickly realized it was Hal from the familiar shape of his shoulders and messy brown hair. Hal's face was buried in his pillow and he was snoring softly. When did he get here? How did Barry not hear him? And what was more, he was still wearing Barry's clothes. Barry made a mental note to lend him something else today so he could get cleaned up. He idly wondered how often the lanterns on Mogo showered.

Barry played with the idea of waking him, but since he had no idea how much sleep Hal had gotten, on top of the fact that he didn't know if Hal had sustained more injuries in addition to the ones he'd already had, he decided to let him sleep.

Didn't mean he couldn't make him breakfast though.

As far as he was aware, Hal wasn't really a breakfast person, but only in the sense that he always skipped breakfast. Barry decided to make some bacon, eggs, and toast for them both, hoping that Hal would like it as much as he did.

He tried not to make too much noise as he cooked, but he turned on a radio at a soft volume for some background noise that would hopefully offset some of the disruptive kitchen sounds that might wake Hal up.

Midway through cooking though, he felt a pair of strong arms around his waist as he stood over the stove. The sudden contact made him jolt until he quickly realized it was Hal.

"I was trying to let you sleep," the speedster said softly.

Hal placed his chin on his shoulder. "How could I possibly sleep when the house smells like bacon?"

Barry laughed. "You make a good point."

"How soon until I can stuff my face?"

"Very soon."

Hal kissed his cheek. "Good. I'm famished."

Barry couldn't help but smile. Hal probably hadn't had a good meal in days, so a nice breakfast would be just what he needed.

It was so nice to have Hal back.

Hal eventually let Barry go so he could finish cooking. He leaned on a kitchen counter, telling Barry about the adventures he'd just had on Mogo as Barry pulled out a couple of plates for them and dished up their meals. Everything was nice and ready for them to take a seat at the dining room table and enjoy a nice meal alone together, and Barry couldn't be happier about it. From the looks of it, neither could Hal.

Then, Barry's phone rang. The blond frowned as he retrieved his phone from the kitchen counter and answered it while setting the dining room table with some silverware. It was Wally calling. Well, the younger one. It could be anything, but Barry guessed that it wasn't good.

"Wally?" He said upon answering.

"Barry, I got bad news…it's about Iris..."

Barry's blood ran cold, particularly at the somber tone in Wally's voice. Hal was looking over at him from the table, concerned.

"What is it?" Barry asked.

"She got into a bad car accident. Someone hit her on her way to work this morning and—"

"Is she okay?" _Is she alive?_

"She's in a coma. They don't know...what's gonna happen."

Barry's heart sank. His hands were shaking. "Where?"

Wally gave him the hospital information.

"I'll be right there," Barry said, ending the call. For a moment, he couldn't move. He couldn't think. Things between him and Iris had been over for a little while now, and they hadn't spoken much these days, but she was still important to him. They still had so much history together and he still cared about her.

Hal stood up, walking slowly over to Barry. "What's going on?"

"Iris got in a car accident. She's in a coma. I…"

Hal frowned, a pained and sympathetic expression on his face. He placed a hand on Barry's shoulder, hoping to get him to focus. "Go."

Barry nodded. "I'll be back."

"Don't worry about me. Go."

Without even bothering to change in his Flash uniform, Barry sped off, leaving Hal alone.

If it had been Carol, Hal would have done the same thing. He'd be storming right into that hospital to be by her side, regardless of the status of their relationship. Iris was a good woman too, and while Hal had never been sure of what exactly happened between her and Barry to make them split, he knew that they still cared about each other. Things just get complicated sometimes. Sometimes you can't fix those complications, but that didn't mean you put that person out of your mind.

Hal couldn't bring himself to eat the breakfast that Barry had finished. Barry wasn't able to join him and with the whole situation, he'd lost his appetite. He did, however, manage to shower and clean himself up. He thought about stealing more of Barry's clothes, but found that Barry had washed his shirt and pants while he was gone, and had left them in the bathroom.

Barry was almost too good.

After he put his own clothes back on, he decided that he didn't want to just sit around the house, moping and waiting for Barry to return, so he left, making sure the house was locked up behind him.

He knew just where he wanted to go. There were multiple hospitals in Central City, but his best guess was that Iris, star reporter, would be at the best one, located at the center of town. Hal changed into his Green Lantern uniform and flew in that direction. He didn't intend on invading Barry's space and getting between him and Iris, he just...wanted to be close by, in case the speedster needed him.

Across from the hospital was a bank that was about the same height as the hospital. Hal landed on the roof, standing right at the edge of the building facing the hospital, and sighed deeply.

"Ring, scan the hospital for Barry."

"Scanning….Barry Allen is present in room—"

"Don't tell me the room number."

"Affirmative."

Hal took a seat at the edge of the roof, hanging his legs off, just watching the hospital building and letting his mind drift. To anyone below, it probably looked pretty strange to see a Green Lantern just hanging out on a bank rooftop, but he couldn't be asked to care right now.

Hal hated hospitals. People died in them. It was difficult not to think of his mom whenever he was near a hospital, much in the same way that being in a plane always made him think of his dad. It was difficult to conquer a fear of hospitals though, but that wasn't something Hal had to worry about very much because either the corps or the league would take care of him if something happened.

A part of that fear (a fear he'd never share with anyone if he could help it) was that what went on in the hospital was completely out of his hands. No matter how hard he punched, no matter what kind of construct he could create, it wouldn't change the lives of the people inside. He wasn't a doctor, he was a fighter. There was nothing he could do to save Iris.

If he could, he gladly would. If he had the power, he would do whatever it took to save her life. Hal wasn't naive. Whatever was going on between him and Barry, a part of Barry would always need Iris on some level. A part of Barry probably still loved her. Hal also knew that life-threatening situations such as these could change things between the three of them, because it was in situations like these where you figure out what it is you really want and need. It happens. Hal had seen it and lived it himself.

So, if Barry decided that he needed to break things off with Hal in light of all this, then Hal would step aside. It would hurt like hell, but he'd get it, because Barry deserved the world, even if he didn't think he did. Barry deserved to be happy, and that's all Hal wanted for him. If Hal wasn't part of that happy picture, then there was no point in trying to force himself into it.

The street below was pretty narrow, so he wasn't too far away from the hospital to see in some of the windows. Near one of the top floors was a particularly large window. The inside had colorful walls and floors, though Hal couldn't make out everything inside. As he looked at the window, he saw a small, sickly looking bald kid approaching the window, looking back in his direction.

Ah. Cancer kids.

The kid he saw spotted him, face lighting up. The kid pointed towards Hal enthusiastically, looking to the side, probably calling other kids. A small crowd joined the first kid, all of them staring in amazement at the Green Lantern.

Hal floated up off the roof of the bank and flew towards the window. The closer he got, the clearer he could see the amazed, excited faces of the kids.

Maybe Hal couldn't change the fates of the people in the hospital, but he could do something else.

As he hovered in the air near the window, he brought up his fist with his ring and created a large balloon animal elephant construct.

The kids' faces lit up even more, some of them even clapping and jumping up and down in excitement.

Since that seemed to work, he changed the elephant to a monkey, making it jump up over toward a nearby street light. The monkey construct wrapped its tail around the pole and spun around.

The kids were loving it. Some were even making gestures for different types of animals that they wanted to see. Hal was happy to oblige and continued, oblivious to the crowd forming below on the street.

There was no telling how long Iris would be in her coma. She had suffered significant head trauma in the car crash and it could be days, weeks, or even longer. The longer she was in the coma, the worse it looked for her recovery. Barry stayed a while to have a moment with her, but also to console Wally the best he could. At some point soon, he'd need to call the other Wally and let him know, and he wasn't looking forward to that conversation. He'd promised to protect Iris, and Iris had been through enough already, which older-Wally still didn't know about. That was his fault, too.

There was only so much he could do at the hospital though. He couldn't stay there all day, even if a part of him wanted to. He would, however, visit her daily. If he could, he'd like to be there when she woke up, but as long as she woke up at all...then that was all he could ask for.

Wally decided to stay at the hospital, which made Barry feel worse about leaving. Barry told him that if he needed anything then to call him, and Wally seemed to understand Barry's sincerity.

When Barry left through the hospital's front door, a massive crowd was gathered to the point where they were even blocking traffic. What in the world? He just wanted to get back home but the crowd had him thinking that something was going horribly wrong.

He followed the crowds' glances and looked up to see Hal in uniform, making a series of silly constructs as he looked into a window near the top of the building. Currently, he had made very large, extremely muscular arms over his actual arms, flexing like some overly enthusiastic male model. The kind of goofy thing that would make a child giggle.

A middle-aged man standing next to Barry on the sidewalk nudged him, grinning. "That Green Lantern fellow sure is something, isn't he? He's been putting on quite a show for those cancer kids up there."

Barry glanced at him, then back up at Hal. "Yeah, he sure is something, alright…"

Many people, from the league to the lanterns and everyone in between, liked to claim that Hal was selfish and only cared about himself.

But Barry, though hurting in his worry for Iris, knew better.

Since breakfast was a wash, Hal talked Barry into having lunch with him. Hal couldn't pay, but Barry didn't mind. If anything, he appreciated Hal's company right now. The money was the farthest thing from his mind right now.

Barry took him to a small diner that he was fond of. It was a quiet, unassuming place he liked to go sometimes when he didn't want anyone to find him. Admittedly, that wasn't very often, but he was happy to share it with Hal.

Barry just ordered a chicken sandwich with fries, which was a really small meal for him, while Hal ordered a hefty burger with triple meat patties and heaven knows what else accompanied with fries and some appetizers. Barry had told him he could have whatever he wanted, and Hal really ran with it. That was alright though. Barry knew that Hal didn't get to have a nice meal very often.

Barry was barely poking at his meal, while Hal was gobbling his down greedily. They were both silent for a while.

"How is she?" Hal asked between bites. He was concerned, even if it didn't currently look like it with the way he was stuffing his face.

Barry sighed. It was natural for Hal to ask, of course, but just the mention of the situation had the weight in his chest growing stronger. "Not good. She suffered a head injury in the crash. There's no telling when she'll wake up. The only upside is that there doesn't seem to have been any oxygen deprivation to her brain. The trauma caused swelling and the longer she stays in the coma….I'm sure you get the idea."

Hal put his burger down for a moment, giving Barry a sympathetic glance. Barry was looking down at his partially-eaten sandwich, staring off into space, silently hoping Hal would drop it.

"Hey, Bar….if there's anything I can do, let me know. Anything."

Barry slowly nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

Hal didn't seem satisfied with that answer, reaching across the table to put his hand over Barry's. "I mean it. Anything."

It was nice of Hal. It really was. He didn't offer that kind of thing to many people, just the ones he cared about most. Barry was sure that if he did need something and Hal was available, Hal would come running. But Barry didn't want to talk about this whole thing more than he had to. Maybe he would eventually, but he was still getting over the shock that Iris was in a coma at all. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have yet.

It was just too much for him to think about right now. He pulled his hand away, placing both of his hands on his lap. "I...I know, Hal. I just…."

"I just want you to know—"

"I know."

Barry knew that Hal didn't have the opportunity to be there for someone when they needed him very much, so he was probably unsure of himself, but if he was going to try to coddle Barry like this, then Barry couldn't handle it. Not to mention that thinking about Hal and Iris at the same time made his head want to explode.

"Okay, well, if you need to talk…."

He couldn't do this. He had to go. Away from Hal, away from this diner, away from Iris, and everything. Far too many forces were pulling him in too many directions. Hal was supposed to be the person who made him forget for awhile, not another person who reminded him of everything that was going wrong.

He stood up, pulled out his wallet, and dropped a couple of twenties on the table. "I have to go. This should cover everything."

Hal blinked. "Was it something I said?"

"I just need to run for a while. You can go back to the house later if you want. I just need to run."

Hal frowned, but didn't say anything. What was he supposed to say?

Barry turned, feeling Hal's stare piercing into his back as he left.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, fine. Maybe Hal had been trying too hard. He was so concerned about the possibility of letting Barry down at such a crucial moment that he'd gone and messed up. It may not have been entirely his fault that Barry took off, but he'd certainly been the catalyst.

What was clear now was that Barry needed space. He knew that Barry had told him he could go back to the house, but that seemed to be the opposite of what Barry needed right now. So Hal knew what he needed to do.

He finished his meal, paying for it and leaving a tip with the money that Barry had left. Afterwards, he stopped at Barry's house, making his way inside with a lock-picking construct, which he didn't like doing but he was only going to be here for a minute. Once inside, he made his way to the kitchen counter, where he left the change from the restaurant along with a note:

" _Barry,_

 _Look to the skies if you need me._

 _-Hal"_

He refused to leave the planet when he got so little time here as it was, and he was still determined to make the most of his temporary leave from the corps. Barry might need space, but there was something else Hal loved to do. So, after leaving the note, he left Barry's house, put on his lantern uniform, and flew across the country to Coast City.

Carol was probably going to kill him for walking into Ferris Air for the first time in...several months, but surely she'd let him test some new plane, right? There was still no better pilot than Hal "Highball" Jordan. It had been too long since he flew an actual plane and not just a construct of one. Truthfully, he missed it.

Seemed like the best way he could spend his time right now, if Carol didn't kill him first.

Carol did in fact get pretty angry at Hal walking into her office, after having been gone for several months, hoping she'd let him test some new plane. They argued a bit back and forth, and Hal's case wasn't much stronger than "I really miss flying, it'll just be this once" but in the end, Carol caved. But only this one flight, this one time, and he had to do exactly what she said.

There was a brand new model fighter that no one had touched yet. Carol hadn't had the chance to get it tested yet, but she figured that Hal would be the right person for the job. Though, of course, she didn't say that out loud.

When Hal was finally in the sky, things somehow felt right again. Everything just made sense in the sky. There wasn't anything he couldn't deal with or get past. All the crap on his mind would somehow work out in the end. It was different from flying in space and it was hard to explain why. The only way to understand was to experience it.

He didn't get too crazy in the plane, but he certainly pushed his luck. He went faster than Carol said, a higher altitude than she wanted, but not by much. Well, he was testing it right? And this was one of the most expensive models they'd ever had, so they had to make sure it was good to go.

Carol met him in the airfield when he finally landed. She looked a little annoyed, but not as pissed off as he thought she sounded over the comms during his flight.

Hal climbed out of the plane, removing his helmet. "This is a real solid plane, Carol. One of the best I've ever had the pleasure of flying. Have you been in this thing? If not, you really should. You'll love it."

"Where have you been?" Carol asked, with no acknowledgement that she'd heard anything he said.

Hal looked around for listening ears before looking back at her. "With the corps, mostly."

"You haven't been by in months."

"And you kinda threw me out of your house last time I tried to talk to you."

Carol stopped for a moment and sighed. "Yeah, I did. In any case...it's good to see you, Hal."

Hal smiled a little, leaning on the plane. "You too."

Carol seemed to hesitate, staring at Hal for a moment before she spoke again. "I know I said I wouldn't do this but...do you wanna get some coffee?"

Oh….boy. In the past, whenever this happened, Hal jumped at the opportunity. Each time him and Carol would try again, he told himself it would be different. He wouldn't screw it up this time, they would find a way to work it out and they would be amazing together. No matter who else Hal had crushed on here or there, he always seemed to be unable to move on from her.

But as she was staring at him, her black hair blowing in the wind, all he could think about was Barry. He may or may not have a "thing" with Barry, he didn't know. They both said they wanted to try, but with this whole thing with Iris...Hal was ready for Barry to change his mind. But whether he did or didn't, he was still all that Hal could think about. Something had changed in him recently, and he couldn't explain it, but this was his reality now. The "L" word was still difficult for him, but what he felt for Barry was real, and he couldn't lie to either Barry or Carol.

His face fell and he looked at the ground. "Carol, I...I didn't come back here for….this."

"I see," she said slowly.

"There's….someone else. I think. I don't know, it's a whole thing, but I—"

"Hal," she interrupted. "It's okay. Really."

Hal nodded, unsure of what else to say.

"So, who did you manage to drag into your mess now?" Her tone was teasing. She was even smiling a little. Yeah, getting turned down sucked, but with their history…she'd been through much worse.

Hal smirked, placing a hand on his hip. "A hot blond."

Carol rose a curious eyebrow. "Anyone I know?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

Carol rolled her eyes, playfully pushing Hal's shoulder, and turning to head back to her office. "Whatever, Highball. Make you return my equipment ASAP."

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

"Oh, and Hal?" She called, looking back over her shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Good luck with your…'hot blond.' Don't be a stranger."

Hal chuckled. Whatever you say, Carol Ferris.

As much as Hal wanted to go back to Central City and check up on Barry, he'd promised himself he'd give him space, so that was out. After having been to Ferris Air and tested a new plane, he found himself a bit lost and, well, bored.

Might as well see how the Justice League is doing.

The particular wing of the Watchtower that Zod had shot himself through was still under repair, but the rest was still usable. However, they didn't currently have a med bay and were using sub-graded equipment for their monitoring system until the repairs were done, but it was better than nothing.

Hal entered the Watchtower and headed to the current conference room that was also serving as a monitoring station. Clark was there in full uniform, standing with his arms crossed as he kept an eye on the monitors and not bothering to look back when Hal entered the room.

"What are you doing here, Hal?" Clark's tone was friendly. If it were Bruce asking the same question, the tone would be a lot different.

Of course Clark would recognize his footsteps. Hal approached and stood next to him, mocking his arms-crossed stance. "Oh, you know. Just seeing how you guys are faring without me. I know it's a big loss, but I believe in you."

"So...you're bored."

"Very much so."

"I thought you were staying with Barry."

"Iris got into a car accident and she's in a coma. Figured I'd give him some space."

Clark finally peeled his eyes from the monitors and looked at him, shocked. "What? When did this happen?"

"This morning, on her way to work. Head trauma. It doesn't look good, but Barry said it could be worse."

Clark frowned, looking genuinely concerned. "And your bright idea was to run away?"

That was not the response that Hal was expecting, and he glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean? I tried to talk to him, but he wasn't into it. He knows he can contact me if he needs anything."

"He's your best friend, Hal. You should know that talking isn't always the answer."

"Then what am I supposed to do, genius?"

"Just be there. If something happened to Iris, he needs you now more than ever. You don't get this opportunity often, Hal. Don't blow it."

Damn. Clark was right...as usual. Hal didn't respond, looking down, feeling a little ashamed of himself.

Clark placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's not too late. Actually, you came here at the right time."

Hal looked up at him again. "What do you mean?"

"Because Barry has monitor duty in about five minutes. If he'd told me about Iris, I would have given him time off, but I haven't heard anything."

Hal's eyes widened. Barry didn't mention having monitor duty today, but then again, Hal had just gotten back last night and their morning had been completely derailed. But was Barry out of his mind? Most of the league would be willing to cover for him in an instance like this, Hal himself included, even though he was currently a reserve member.

"Well, when he gets here, I'll just tell him I'm working for him," Hal said simply. Problem solved, right?

Clark smiled. "I know you care about him, but let him decide what he wants to do. Just keep him company. That's all he ever really wants from you. Trust me."

Hal averted his gaze, glancing at the monitors instead. "Yeah, well. Barry is Barry."

Barry's voice called from the room's entrance. "What does that mean?"

Hal and Clark exchanged glances before looking back at Barry. Clark, of course, let Barry's question hang in the air while Hal struggled to come up with an answer.

"It means, well...it's a compliment, Bar. There's no one else like you," Hal finally said.

Barry rose an eyebrow, joining them at the monitors. "Uh-huh."

Clark finally cut in. "Hal told me about Iris. If there's anything I can do, let me know. Do you need to take the day off?"

Barry shook his head quickly, which surprised neither Clark nor Hal. Barry intended to work through this, just as he always did, like the true workaholic that he was. It was hard for Hal to tell if that was actually healthy or not, but he was finally starting to understand it. Hal's approach to problems like this was different, but that was probably true for everyone, wasn't it?

"No, it's fine," Barry said. "Thanks anyway."

"Alright," Clark said. "Anything comes up, call me. I have to go. See you guys later."

Barry and Hal exchanged goodbyes with Clark, who left the room to head back down to Earth. Afterwards, Barry looked at Hal with a hint of guilt on his face.

"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier. I wasn't trying to make you run off. I just needed—"

Hal placed his hands on Barry's shoulders. "What in the world are you sorry for? Don't sweat it, Bar."

That seemed to be some weight off Barry's shoulders. "Thanks…"

"Actually….I should be the one apologizing. I didn't mean to—"

Barry shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Hal. It's okay."

"Since you're stuck here for the next several hours, you might as well be stuck with me. What do you say?"

"Alright. It does get pretty quiet up here…"

With his ring, Hal formed a comfortable chair construct behind Barry. The chair hit Barry behind the knees, causing him to fall backwards onto the chair. The chair moved to sit in front of the monitor, and Hal took the actual chair that was sitting nearby, seating himself next to him.

"Hal, you know we have more chairs here, right?"

"Yeah, but they're not as comfortable as that, are they?"

Barry took off his cowl, running his hands through his hair as though he were exhausted. "No, they sure aren't," he said idly.

Hal frowned, unable to take his eyes off him. "Any news about Iris?"

Barry shook his head, forcing himself to look at the monitors. "No. Wally said he'd call me if anything came up, but that probably won't be for a while yet."

Hal didn't know what to say. He wanted to promise Barry that she would pull through, because was a strong person and everything, but that wasn't his promise to make. There was no sense in giving Barry false platitudes that would only make him feel worse in the end. Maybe Clark was right. Maybe all Hal needed to do was just be here.

They both fell silent. Hal didn't want to force conversation if Barry wasn't up to talking, and Barry….wasn't up for much talking. Normally, Hal was uncomfortable in situations like these and hated silence, but somehow with Barry he didn't mind. Maybe Barry didn't expect anything from him and was just glad he was here. And maybe Hal was finally beginning to understand the value in a comfortable silence.

The silence lasted for several minutes with the pair studying the monitors until Hal heard a soft but profound sob coming from Barry. He looked over to find Barry's head in his hands and had to resist the urge to change his chair construct into something that could give Barry a comforting hug. Instead, he scooted his chair closer to Barry and slid his arm around his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Bar."

"She can't go out like this. I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't make it."

Hal swallowed hard, giving Barry a gentle squeeze. "I know. I'm pulling for her, too."

Barry responded to the gesture by leaning into Hal's shoulder, which surprised Hal a bit, but the lantern was more concerned with the fact that Barry was actually crying. Something within Hal was moved so deeply and it made his heart pound harder than it had in a very long time. Unable to help himself, he wrapped both arms around Barry, cradling his head against his shoulder gently and shutting his eyes to focus only on the speedster's presence. Monitors be damned.

"I don't care how mad at me she is," Barry said, his voice breaking. "I just want her to be happy."

"I'm sure she knows," Hal said. He meant it. It was Barry, after all. He made missteps sometimes, but it was all out of the love that he had. Iris understood that, right?

"I hope she does. I really hope she does."

"I don't know what happened with you guys, but I do know that you've always done your best to look out for her no matter what was on your plate. At the end of a day, someone like Iris isn't going to forget all that, even if there was some other trouble along the way."

Barry tried to calm himself down upon hearing that, pulling himself from Hal and wiping his eyes. He looked a little embarrassed about breaking down like that, but Hal didn't mind. Not in the slightest.

"You remember when you told me to tell Iris that I'm Flash?"

"Yeah," Hal said, trying not to stare too much at Barry's puffy eyes.

"I was...too late. She found out I'd been keeping secrets from her, so she decided she couldn't trust me anymore."

Hal frowned, glancing at the monitors. "I'm sorry to hear it."

"Listen, Hal, there's something I want you to know."

Oh, boy. Here it comes, Hal thought. Here comes the part where Barry tells him that he's decided it's not going to work out between them. The part where almost losing Iris has made Barry decide that his heart really lies with the woman he's been with the better part of the last several years. Who could blame him? Iris was a good woman and Hal would never try to interfere with that. If that's what made Barry happy, then so be it.

"I'm all ears," Hal said, his voice even, without looking at him.

"Iris has been an important part of my life for a long time."

Yup.

"And there's no denying that she always will be."

Here we go.

"But the person I want to be with…"

Just rip off the bandaid, already.

"...is you, Hal."

Yup, just as he thought.

Wait a second. What? Hal looked over at him, unable to hide his surprise.

"Don't look so shocked," Barry said softly. "I don't know, something's changed in me. I still care about Iris, but with you, I….This is what I want now."

Hal's heart was fluttering so much he swore it would fly right out of his chest. "You want….to be with me."

"Yes," Barry said, looking straight at him.

"Even though the corps keeps me away from Earth all the time."

"Well, you're the one who said we'd find a way, so...yes."

"Even though I basically have no identity on Earth right now."

"Yes."

"Even with my horrible track record in relationships."

"Don't ruin it."

Hal frowned, but Barry laughed.

"I'm just kidding," the blond said. "Yes. Look, I know things are...strange right now. It must be weird for you to hear me talk about Iris and then tell you this, but I mean it. I mean it more than I've meant anything in a long time." Barry took Hal's hands into his own before he continued speaking. "I want this...so long as you still do, too."

Hal turned his hands, squeezing Barry's gently. "I was….so sure you'd change your mind."

There was a brief second where Barry smiled at him before leaning in and giving Hal a deep kiss, to which Hal responded readily.

After a moment, Barry broke the kiss, still holding Hal in his arms. "Wait….Bruce checks the cameras here…."

"Bats is engaged to Catwoman. He has no room to talk," Hal said.

Barry chuckled before leaning in to kiss him again.

The end of Hal's leave was nearing. As far as the lantern knew, he was to report back to Mogo the day it was over.

Barry knew that Hal was a bit mixed on it. On one hand, he could tell that Hal was getting particularly stir crazy, especially when Barry was working. And he couldn't patrol Central City With Barry too much because he was afraid of bringing bigger creeps into the area than Flash was used to handling. Not that Barry was any weaker than him, but there was no sense in giving him more trouble than he already had on a regular basis. On the other hand, it wouldn't be often that the two of them would be able to enjoy each others company like this.

It had been about a week since Iris went into her coma. Barry stopped by daily, but the news was the same each time. The doctors couldn't tell him anything definitive one way or another. Playing the waiting game was really hard, and the only thing Barry could do to keep from going too crazy was to work or...let Hal distract him.

He supposed it could have been worse.

He woke in the morning with the sunlight coming in through his sheer curtains, hitting him in the face. As beautiful as that was, it wasn't nearly as beautiful as the brunet laying on his bare chest, sleeping soundly. He wished he could let Hal sleep longer, but there was no way for himself to wake up without also waking Hal. And...after all the fun the night before, they both probably needed their rest, but Barry was hungry. Sorry, Hal.

"Hal," he whispered.

Hal groaned. "Five more minutes."

"Suit yourself," Barry said, amusement in his voice. He gently moved him off his chest and climbed out of bed. Hal whined momentarily and flopped back in bed.

Childish, but cute.

Barry threw on some clothes, as he and Hal had sorta decided to forgo clothing last night, with the intention of making breakfast for them both. However, halfway through changing, his phone started ringing on the nightstand.

Hal ground louder at the disruptive noise, which Barry ignored as he retrieved his phone. Wally. This could either be very good or very bad. Barry answered the phone quickly.

"Wally?"

"Barry! You have to come to the hospital! She's starting to wake up!"

Barry froze, his insides flooding with relief and joy. "What? Really? I'll be right there."

"She's not fully awake yet but the doctors think she will be soon. Get down here!"

"I'm on my way. Hang tight."

As Barry ended the call, he noticed that Hal had sat up in bed, his attention on Barry in light of hearing his side of the call. "What is it?" The lantern asked.

"Iris is starting to wake up. I have to get down there."

Hal climbed out of bed and gave Barry a quick kiss. "Go."

Barry nodded. "I'll be back soon."

"Take the time you need. Go. She'll be looking for you."

In a sudden flourish of wind and static electricity, Barry was fully dressed and had even combed his bed hair.

"Thanks, Hal."

"Not a—"

Hal blinked, and Barry was gone.

"—Problem. Alright. I'll just hang out here then."

For once, Barry wasn't late. He and Wally were by Iris's bedside when she gained full awareness. Before they could talk much with her, the doctors did some checks on her, and everything came back soundly. She'd have to stay in the hospital for a while so they could run further tests, but for the moment, things were really looking up and she was expected to make a full recovery.

Iris was delighted to see Wally, and Wally couldn't hold back his emotions in how thankful he was that she was okay. Barry let them have a moment, standing off to the side in the room, counting his blessings that Iris had pulled through.

Iris eventually asked Wally if she could have a moment alone with Barry, which actually surprised Barry. Wally sounded a little reluctant but understood, and left the room, leaving the two alone.

Barry moved closer to the bed. "I'm really glad you're okay."

"Thanks. I can't believe I was out over a week. I feel like I've missed so much."

Barry hesitated. Yeah, she'd missed a little bit. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts, but I guess I can't complain at this point."

Barry frowned, finally pulling up a chair to sit at her bedside. "Listen, I know you just woke up, but I just wanted to apologize for everything."

Iris sighed heavily. "Barry, don't. I know you are."

"I'm serious. I need you to know that. I can't believe I almost lost you without...making amends."

Iris's expression softened. "Barry...I know you mean it. I really do. I'm sure this has been driving you crazy. Just...it's different now. Between us, I mean. I'm sorry."

Barry took in a deep breath. It was almost crazy now to think about how badly he once wanted her back. But now, he'd accepted what had happened. He knew they were over. She didn't feel the same way about him anymore, and now his heart was with Hal. All of those things were true, but it didn't mean that they couldn't rebuild a bridge between them. Barry still wanted to have her in his life, even if it wasn't the same anymore. It wouldn't be easy, it would probably feel awkward for awhile, but he didn't want to forget about all of their history. He hoped she felt that way, too.

"I know it's different now. I...I'm okay with that. You're still important to me. Do you know what I mean?"

Iris glanced at him curiously. "Something's changed, hasn't it? Something seems….different about you."

Barry hesitated. Iris had just woken up and he didn't want to bother her more than he likely already was. Now didn't seem like the right time to have a conversation about Hal, but he didn't want to lie to her either.

"Yes," Barry admitted. "We can talk about that later. I just want….that opportunity."

But Iris, with all of her journalistic instincts, didn't like waiting for details until "later."

"Tell me now," she said. "If you're worried you'll shock me into another coma, it's not gonna happen."

Barry bit his lip, debating on how much he should tell her. "There's….someone else."

"Oh." She paused. "Are you happy with them?"

Barry gave a half-hearted smile. He was very happy with Hal, but bragging about that to Iris right now felt wrong and weird. "Yeah. I am. Look, I'm just saying I still want us to be...friends."

Iris paused, studying Barry's expression like she was looking for some kind of clue. "Yeah. Yeah, we can."

Barry's smile grew wider. "I'm really glad to hear that."

"A piece of advice, Barry."

"Huh?"

"Don't keep secrets from this person."

Barry swallowed. "Yeah. I think I've learned that lesson."

"Then you'll be just fine. Good luck, Barry. I hope it works out for you."

"Thanks, Iris. Thank you."

Hal wasn't completely helpless. Just because he couldn't cook something super fancy didn't mean he couldn't cook at all. For example, he could make spaghetti. That was mainly because it was easy, but it was still food, damn it.

There was no telling when Barry would be home, but Hal didn't mind. He still made enough for both of them (taking into consideration Barry's massive appetite) and Barry could eat it whenever he was ready.

It just so happened that as Hal was draining the noodles, Barry came walking in the front door. "Whoa, something smells good. Are you _cooking_?"

Hal scoffed, combining the noodles with the sauce. "I lived alone for a long time, you know. I didn't just eat takeout everyday."

Barry walked further into the kitchen in front of the oven, watching Hal stir the sauce and noodles together. "Well, I'll be. It smells really good."

"You're damn right it does. Oh, watch out, I gotta pull the garlic bread out."

Barry moved aside, rather impressed with all this as he watched Hal make oven glove constructs from his ring, which he used to pull the cookie sheet of garlic bread out of the oven. It was all so surprising. He never saw Hal be so domestic before, but he loved it. There was quite a lot he'd give to have this everyday he came home.

"Do you...want some help?" Barry offered.

"Nope. Have a seat. It'll be ready in a minute."

It felt strange to have Hal Jordan of all people take total control of his kitchen, but since Hal seemed insistent on finishing this on his own, Barry supposed he should let him. He moved out of Hal's way, taking a seat at the dining room table. As he waited, he leaned his chin on his fist, with his elbow on the table, watching Hal with an admiring gaze.

It wouldn't be often he'd get a sight like this. He knew that. And that was fine, but he could take advantage of it in the meantime.

Hal pulled out a couple of bowls from a cabinet, along with a couple of small plates for the garlic bread. He dished everything up and sat it on the table with some silverware. To drink they had iced tea. Truthfully, Hal was pretty proud of himself. He didn't get the opportunity to cook like this very much, so he hoped that Barry liked what he'd thrown together.

"I would have set up some candles, but I couldn't find any, and I'm broke," Hal said as he joined Barry at the table.

Barry chuckled. "I think you did enough already, Hal."

Hal wasted no time in digging in his own meal. "So how's Iris?"

"She's good. She'll need to be there for a couple of days or so for some tests, but the doctors said she's expected to make a full recovery."

Hal flashed Barry a genuine smile. "I'm really glad to hear that, Bar." He was stuffing a forkful of spaghetti when Barry reached across the table, taking his head gently.

"I couldn't have done this with you," the speedster said softly. "It meant a lot to me that you were here, even if the circumstances were out of your control."

Hal paused. The soft, content smile on Barry's face was making his heart do that weird fluttery thing again. After swallowing the spaghetti he was working on, he finally responded as he rubbed the back of Barry's hand with his thumb. "I'm just thankful that a weird twist of fate left me here at the right time."

"Me too. Sorry you got kicked around by Zod, though," Barry said, pulling his hand away so he could eat.

"Please. It was just a scratch. It's fine. And the Watchtower repairs are almost done, so it's almost like none of that ever happened."

"Well, some of it happened," Barry said between bites, still smiling.

Hal grinned. "Hmm, I don't think I know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do. How about all those times where you made up some lame excuse with the corps just so you could come to Earth and see me? And then told me so?"

Hal took a large bite of his garlic bread, shaking his head.

"Or the time that you managed to concentrate enough to save my life when Zod hit the Watchtower? And said, 'I got you'?"

Hal swallowed. "Can't recall, sorry."

"Or the time you made fun constructs for those kids at the hospital?"

Hal shrugged.

"Are you sure you can't recall? Because those things….ended up being really important to me."

Hal finally paused and set his silverware down. It was true. He'd had feelings of some sort for Barry for several months now. Probably longer, but admitting it to himself had been difficult. Yet now, here they were. Their situation wasn't ideal or perfect, but they both wanted to try. Barry was just as crazy about him, something that was still blowing his mind. He couldn't help but feel like this was the start of something new and wonderful. A new chapter in both of their lives. They didn't know where it would go, but Hal hoped that this would last.

He had more faith than ever. Somehow, it all seemed so possible, despite his situation with the corps and having to be gone all the time.

"I have to report back to Mogo tomorrow," Hal said quietly.

"Then we'll have to make the most of tonight, won't we?"

Hal smiled a little, but it faded quickly into a look of concern. "You're still sure about this? I mean, I'll be here as much as I can, but...it's not going to be easy."

"Well, Hal, are _you_ sure you still want this?"

"Well, yeah. Are you kidding me?"

"That's how I feel too."

Hal stood up, leaning across the small table to kiss Barry's forehead. "I'm glad."

In response, Barry placed his hands on Hal's cheeks, bringing him down for a real, more passionate kiss. Hal placed his hands over Barry's, melting against his lips. It felt like home.

Yeah, home. This was home now. He knew they would make it.


End file.
